Story for the Week
I have been around long enough that plenty of things fall into the category of old habits—meaning habits I used to have and don’t anymore. I used to walk barefoot…inside, outside, on our gravel driveway. Now I wear slides in the house because my feet hurt if I don’t. And walking on gravel? 🤣🤣🤣 Not a chance.
I used to regularly chew on ice cubes, so much so that my mother once blasted me with the hose for sneaking an ice cube when she told me to stop eating the ice cubes. Now I rarely put ice in anything. If I do, I definitely don’t eat the ice cubes.
My job used to require a daily commute into the city, but I’ve been working from home almost exclusively since the early 2000s. The last time I went to the office was three years ago when I started in the role I’m in now. We had a three-day working session in Tampa. (It wasn’t even my home office, so does it really count?) I used to do my hair and makeup every day (when I went into the office). Now, my hair is almost always in a ponytail. The last time I wore makeup was when Corinne and I went for makeovers about three years ago.
Live concerts used to be a staple in my summer activities. I recall attending six over a four-week span one summer. Now I can’t justify the ticket prices and am more inclined to spend that money going to the theater. I used to take Corinne and some of her friends to the library every Saturday. We stopped for drinks and snacks on the way, picked out books, and spent about an hour reading before heading home. They’ve all gotten older and busier, and wow, do I miss that.
I used to read every John Grisham book as soon as it came out…and I think that might be a habit that I have to pick up again. 🤔
I have been a fan of Grisham since his debut, A Time to Kill, released in 1989. A year out of college, I worked a job overnight, lived at home, and really had a ton of time on my hands. Not surprisingly, I spent almost all of it reading.
As he released novel after novel, I read them all. But after The Brethren in 2000, life was busy. My job required a lot of hours, and I drove into the city instead of taking the train. Then I got married and had a kid and stopped buying books or reading much at all for a really long time. When Corinne started school and needed a library card, it reminded me how much I missed reading for pleasure. I asked for a Kindle for my birthday that year, and I started reading again…a lot.
I created a Goodreads profile. I eventually started requesting advance copies of books from NetGalley since I reviewed them on Amazon anyway…and I started this blog. One of my recent NetGalley approvals included an advance copy of the non-fiction Framed: Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions by Grisham and Jim McCloskey (Please Select Me for Jury Duty (Like, REALLY Select Me)). I don’t normally request non-fiction, but I remembered how much I liked Grisham. That one sounded fascinating (spoiler alert, it was).
And then one day I ended up with a promotional credit on Amazon. As a “reward” for buying one book, I received a credit that I could use on a specific selection of books. The credit was only $1.50, and a lot of times, they end up expiring because I can’t find a book I’m interested in. But when I looked at the available books, an older Grisham title caught my eye. I decided that $6.49 was a bargain for one of his titles. And I hoped that I would still enjoy his writing after all these years (Outgrowing Male Novelists of a Certain Age).
I’m so glad I selected the book reviewed below. It moved around a lot in my reading list because of ARCs I had to fit in before their release dates. I still managed to squeezed it in less than a year after ordering it. (If you’re a reader with a long TBR list, you get it.) It reminded me why I used to race through every Grisham novel as they were released. It made me want to make that old habit new again. There’s a reason his website calls him “America’s Favorite Storyteller.”
His next novel is scheduled for release in October, and I have it slotted to review on October 12 (thank you, NetGalley and Doubleday Books). I’m sure it sounds weird in August that I don’t have a gap in my schedule until January to add some of his older titles 😯, but I do expect to add some into my rotation when I can.
Now the only question is which one should I add to my list first? 🤔
Book Review
⭐⭐⭐⭐
4 Stars for The Judge’s List by John Grisham
359 pages
Publisher: Anchor
Publication Date: October 19, 2021
Purchased on Amazon.
Publisher’s Description
In The Whistler, Lacy Stoltz investigated a corrupt judge who was taking millions in bribes from a crime syndicate. She put the criminals away, but only after being attacked and nearly killed. Three years later, and approaching forty, she is tired of her work for the Florida Board on Judicial Conduct and ready for a change.
Then she meets a mysterious woman who is so frightened she uses a number of aliases. Jeri Crosby’s father was murdered twenty years earlier in a case that remains unsolved and that has grown stone cold. But Jeri has a suspect whom she has become obsessed with and has stalked for two decades. Along the way, she has discovered other victims.
The man Jeri holds responsible for all these deaths is brilliant, patient, and always one step ahead of law enforcement. He is the most cunning of all serial killers. He knows forensics, police procedure, and most important: he knows the law.
He is a judge, in Florida—under Lacy’s jurisdiction.
But the man keeps a record of all his victims and targets, people unlucky enough to have crossed his path and wronged him in some way. Lacy must work to take him down, while somehow keeping her name off his list.
************
Main Characters:
- Lacy Stoltz – 39 years old, a Florida attorney who works for the Board on Judicial Conduct (BJC), in a relationship with FBI agent Allie, they are at a point where they need to make a decision about their relationship because of their conflicting work schedules
- Darren Trope – has worked at the BJC with Lacy for two years and is already looking for a new job
- Jeri Crosby – 46-year-old professor of political science in Alabama, has spent two decades stalking the person she believes killed her father
- Ross Bannick – 49-year-old judge in the Florida circuit court, highly respected by his staff, A+ rating from the bar, suspected by Jeri Crosby of being a sociopathic serial killer
John Grisham really knows how to tell a story. This piece of his amazing writing makes me want to go back and read all the books I missed over the years. My reading tastes have changed a lot since his debut novel, A Time to Kill. I read a lot more women’s fiction and a lot less Stephen King than I used to. This book takes me back to all the reasons I fell in love with Grisham to begin with.
This story is a classic cat-and-mouse tale. We know who the good guys are and who the bad guy is. What we need to uncover is if the mouse is finally going to get caught.
Lacy Stoltz is a Florida attorney whose work involves investigating complaints against judges. She is disenchanted with what she feels is a dead-end career. Her relationship with her FBI agent boyfriend is good, but they haven’t decided on a future. She has never wanted children.
Enter Jeri Crosby with her tale of judicial misconduct of the murderous kind. She insists on meeting in person, won’t give her real name, has a number of burner phones that she uses and discards. Honestly, she seems a little suspicious herself and constantly encroaches on Lacy’s boundaries. But she is terrified that the judge she’s been stalking for 20 years will discover that she’s trying to dig up proof against him and add her to his kill list.
Lacy has her doubts about how real Jeri’s suspicions are. When Jeri finally files a complaint, the Board on Judicial Conduct (BJC) is obligated to investigate. The more Lacy meets with Jeri, and the more unsolved but similar deaths Jeri reveals, the more Lacy believes her. But Lacy is a lawyer, not a detective, and there is only so much her office can do with no real evidence.
What I enjoyed most about this book is that we know all along what Judge Bannick is up to. Grisham tells us, so we know he’s guilty. We also know he might get away with every murder because he has flawlessly covered his tracks. The only thing that ties the murders together is the manner of death. They’re scattered across multiple states and take place with years in between.
The joy of reading this story was in watching the cat-and-mouse game play out. For every step Lacy and her team take, Bannick’s access to information keeps him just out of reach. Cunning and patient and smart, he seems to have a plan for everything. I truly enjoyed the chase.
One of the other things I love about Grisham is his ability to wrap up a story, and this is no exception. So many newer thrillers wrap up as soon as the case closes. The characters’ personal lives aren’t a piece of the storytelling, so there’s nowhere to go after the case is over.
Throughout the book, we learn about Lacy’s past, we meet her brother and her boyfriend, and we know she’s struggling to figure out what comes next for her. She and Allie go away for a couple of weekends, she meets her brother for lunch. And when the case ends, Grisham continues the story to let us know where Lacy goes from here, what her future holds.
I had a great time with this story. I loved the characters and the pacing, and I even liked Jeri…as annoying as I found her to be at times. This took me back to the days when my reading choices consisted of all thrillers and horror. I see a lot more of Grisham’s thrillers in my future.
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